This sermon is about drifting. Drifting away from the LORD! For over 200 years, the northern kingdom of Israel has been drifting away from God. Nineteen kings from nine different dynasties, and not a single king “did right in the sight of the LORD.” There were constant political assassinations. There were long periods of instability. And since King Jeroboam’s golden calves…yes, Moses’ brother Aaron wasn’t the only one who let the people of Israel worship a golden calf…but Jeroboam’s golden calves were the beginning of persistent idolatry (1 Kings 12). And our text today caps off the final chapter of this downward spiral.

Hoshea becomes Israel’s final king (2 Kings 17:1). The Word describes him as evil, “though not as the kings before him”. Under his leadership, the Northern Kingdom becomes a vassal or ‘flunkey’ to the King of Assyria. But Hoshea soon conspires with Egypt to stop...